Archive for November, 2013

For 20 years Walt Disney attempted to buy the film rights to P.L. Travers’ first Mary Poppins book. It wasn’t until she was offered final script approval that the author finally agreed to consider the idea.

The movie is split into two timelines, main story takes place during the couple of weeks that P.L. Travers spent working on the script, but every so often the film jumps back in time to explore the tragic childhood that led to the creation of Mary Poppins.

A serious, strong and uncompromising woman, Travers is portrayed brilliantly by Emma Thompson who manages to bring a warmth to the seemingly cold character. While she does open up somewhat over the course of the movie it isn’t forced and her serious nature allows for some great one liners.

At the beginning of the story, Walt Disney, played by Tom Hanks, is presented as the complete opposite of Travers. He is informal, fun and lighthearted. Though as the film goes on he reveals that the two are more alike than you’d think.

Though the movie may have went light on some of the more negative aspects of Walt Disney, it seems that the story is close enough to the truth to not be disrespectful. Neither party comes across particularly bad in the movie.

The second timeline, shows Travers as a young girl living in Australia with her family. At the beginning she appears to have the ideal childhood, but some the cracks begin to show as her childlike father, who she loves more than anyone, succumbs to his personal demons.

Colin Farrell plays Travers’ father. This is a role that really gives him the opportunity to show how good an actor he is and he lives up to it. Though it may not be the primary timeline of the story it is definitely the heart and will likely end up being the most fondly remembered part of the film.

It may not be the unflinching truth of what really happened, but it was a great story that has just enough truth to please fans of Travers and Disney.

What do you think? Are you excited to see the story behind Mary Poppins? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

If you thought that Jeepers Creepers 2 getting a sequel was surprising then prepare for an even bigger shock as a sequel to the 1946 Christmas classic It’s a wonderful Life may be on the way.

According to Variety, the movie, which will be called It’s a Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story, is expected to hit cinemas in time for Christmas 2015.

The film will be a collaboration between Star Partners and Hummingbird Productions and will star Karolyn Grimes who played Zulu, George Bailey’s daughter, in the original.

The story will focus on George Bailey Jr, grandson of the original lead character, who is shown what the world would be like without him by Zulu who is now an angel.

Though it’s not exactly a remake, the plot is so similar to the original that it might as well be. It’s hard to imagine a modern version of this classic tale being able to live up to the original, so let’s just be optimistic and hope that it doesn’t ruin the first one.

Update

Looks like the rumours were false and Star Partners and Hummingbird Productions don’t own the rights and therefore can’t actually make the sequel.

Are you disappointed or relieved? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

It’s been a long time since Jeepers Creepers fans have had any real hope of a sequel, but Shock Til You Drop have reported that a day of shooting for the long awaited third film has already taken place.

According to the article, Victor Salva, director of the previous two installments, made the comment saying that ‘there may finally be some very good news for those waiting for a third Jeepers film to go before cameras’. While he did go into more detail off the record, this is all the information we’re going to get right now.

Nothing’s confirmed yet so the story could end up just being a late April Fools joke, but if it is true then it won’t be long before more news comes out.

Do you believe the rumours? Would you even want to see a third Jeepers Creepers film? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

First impressions seem to indicate that the upcoming Disney villain movie won’t disappoint and Angelina Jolie does a great job delivering some very quotable lines, but will this reverse fairy tale attract live up to the hype? Check out the trailer below.

Carrie is one of those rare stories that never seems to change no matter how many times it’s retold, which is strange considering how drastically different remakes tend to be.

This version of Carrie brings the story into the modern era by using camera phones and YouTube, but, considering how much media attention cyber bullying has gotten recently, it seems like a missed opportunity that it isn’t really explored here in any great depth.

As one of those rare people who enjoy remakes of old movies, I don’t usually think that there isn’t a point in remaking a film, but this movie is so close to what came before that it is kind of boring.

There has been a lot of criticism about Chloe Grace Moretz playing Carrie. The main problem seems to be her looks, but it’s naive to think that no matter how bad your upbringing is that you’ll be well adjusted and fit in just because you’re attractive. The real concern should have been that Moretz made her name playing a crime fighter in Kick-Ass and may not be convincing as a victim. However, she still managed to believably play the awkward, scared, withdrawn Carrie.

Unfortunately, most of the characters around her are not played so well. The majority of the other students at her school seemed to have nothing else on their minds but Carrie. Their world totally revolved around her, whether that means helping her or destroying her.

As a result they come across extremely two dimensional. For example, Chris, the school bitch, was one of the most unredeemable characters in recent cinema, she was pure one sided evil and would have been more believable had she been trying to blow up Gotham City.

Julianne Moore plays Carrie’s unhinged over the top mother and she plays the part well. The relationship between the two characters is so central to the story and it really was done justice by the two actresses.

Besides Carrie and her mother, the only character that seems genuine and real is Ms Desjardin played by Judy Greer. The character is basically the teacher that should be in every school, minus a few outbursts, she seems to really look out for her students and want them to do the right thing.

It’s hard to say if Carrie could ever be considered scary. Even though it’s labelled a horror films it’s more like a tragic story about bullying and child abuse. Still, teenagers will relate to the misunderstood Carrie and if Chloe Moretz plays her cards right maybe Samuel L. Jackson will recruit Carrie to the Avengers, because this version of the character has gotten a serious power upgrade.